II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1368 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 25, 2009 Mr. Whitehouse introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 35, United States Code, to create an exception from infringement of design patents for certain component parts used to repair another article of manufacture.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Access to Repair Parts Act.

2.

Exception from infringement for certain component parts

(a)

In general

Section 271 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (j)It shall not be an act of infringement of any design patent to make, use, offer to sell, or sell within the United States or import into the United States any article of manufacture that itself constitutes a component part of another article of manufacture, if the sole purpose of the component part is for the repair of the article of manufacture of which it is a part so as to restore its original appearance. . (b)

Applicability

The amendment made by subsection (a) applies to acts done on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.